Dodgeball is based upon Baseketball, Major League and countless other – mostly better – films. Balls of Fury has since ripped off Dodgeball too, and is in fact a little better itself, so I guess the cycle of pointlessness continues on unabated.
What we have here is a 90 minute film with 30 minutes of material that succeeds thanks only to the two names on the poster and the fact that is obviously patently silly. By the way when I say the ‘names’ on the poster I mean just that, it sure isn’t the performances and jokes that demand you watch Dodgeball.
Peter (Vince Vaughn) runs Average Joe’s, a shoddy run down gym for everyday losers and schmos, the types of guys that wouldn’t feel comfortable amid the gleaming muscles, rippling pecs and form-fitting lycra of the ‘look at me’ gyms. Places like Globo-Gym, a glitzy cutting edge business run by White Goodman (Ben Stiller).
The long and the short of things demands that White Goodman wants Average Joe’s (which happens to be across the road),not to add to their business but to bulldoze in order to clear car parking space. Peter needs a quarter mill or the bank – represented by Kate (Christine Taylor) – will take the gym forcefully. One of Peter’s gormless regulars informs him of a dodgeball tournament with a winner takes all grand prize of dun-dun-dun-nun-dun-DUNNNNNNN… oh the suspense is killing me… $250,000.
And cue the jokes about balls, physical violence and ridiculous characters including an Eastern European he-woman, a pirate and a wheelchair bound ex-dodgeball guru who trains the team by throwing wrenches.
Look at least Ben Stiller has fun with his impossibly vain character. Unfortunately Vaughn does little more than play the ‘I could be like you’ guy and the rest of the cast haven’t got much to work with.
Dodgeball took forever to get made. You can see why, but when the mainstream is so dopey forgiving it was inevitable that this would make bucks.
Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. Add a couple of pointless non-value adding cameos and give everyone a shiny outfit and you’ve got a profitable film that no-one but the easily pleased will truly enjoy.
And so the machine that is Hollywood moves doggedly onward.
